Gubbio's treasures.....

You never know when inspiration will strike you...while waiting for a plane in Rome, I found this ruler made of common woods in Italy.

Livio de Marchi

Close to the Peggy Guggenheim museum in Venice is the shop of Livio de Marchi. He uses wood to depict common items in life.

Livio de Marchi

I have always had a fascination with wood...the unique graining and colors.....

Ducal Palazzo-Gubbio

That silly ruler started me thinking about the history of intarsia, or inlaid decorative wood.

Intarsia can be dated back to ancient Egypt, but is best know from 15th c Italy..

Maple, pear and walnut were the main woods used in the finest pieces...with some cypress and pine for accents.

Only the elite afforded the labor intensive pieces.

The 15th century ushered in the Italian Renaissance, and arabesque ornamentation...

This type of decoration was perfectly suited for intarsia.

One of the best examples of intarsia is from the Ducal Palace in Gubbio, Italy.

If you live in the U.S., you don't have to update your passport to see some of the greatest intarsia work from Italy.

Robert Kirkbride photo-Metropolitan Museum

The Metropolitan Museum owns the studiolo from the Ducal Palace

Thousands of pieces of pear, walnut, maple and other woods create this incredible work..

Due to the cost of creating inlay, it was mostly used in furniture.

This is a lovely example of pear with ebony....

Musee des Arts Decoratifs

Italy is not the only country know for inlay. This piece is in the Decorative Arts Museum in Paris.

Musee des Arts Decoratifs

They also own this collection of small panels of intarsia .

Fra Giovanni da Verona created this incredible work in the Santa Maria Church in Organo, Verona.

Lucretia Moroni

So, this silly ruler led me to study with Lucretia Moroni of Bergamo, Italy. Lucretia, founder of  Fatto-a-mano, has created incredible faux inlay for the Russian Consulate in New York and mentored under Renzo Mongiardino. 

With the costs of traditional inlay, faux can be a better alternative.

This is my finished panel from her class.

...and  another piece I did, a wine box, which now holds my brushes.

I have  taken several classes with Lucretia learning more traditional Italian painting techniques.

Now, full circle, here is the panel I did in class, mounted on a small cabinet in my home...all from the inspiration of a small ruler.....don't let the small influences around you slip by unnoticed...!

International Decorative Artisans League-Memphis 2009

Just got home from the IDAL convention held in Memphis , Tenn. this year. This was a very intense week of classes, lectures, demos and sightseeing!

I was fortunate to assist Pierre Finkelstein in one of his faux marble classes.(never washed so many paintbrushes and cups!) He is the author of The Art of Faux, which is a must have in any decorative artist's library.

Working with Lucretia Moroni is always a class on my list! We learned Italian techniques for producing several varieties of marble.

It was my first time to study with Tania Seabock. We worked with gilding and painting decorative ornament on leaf. Such a beautiful technique!!

Here I am working with Vella, a trowelable product carried by many Sherwin Williams stores in the US. This is a great look with the feel of Venetian plaster. Vella can be waxed, polished to a high sheen or left dull for a more rustic feel. It can be embossed or manipulated to resemble marble...a very versatile product!

It was so good to see Helen Morris, owner of Stencil-Library in the U.K. and Design Inspiration blog. Helen was the keynote speaker for the opening of the convention.

To unwind in the evening, we would hop on the trolley and head down to Beale St......home of the blues and great food!

All the heavyweights in blues are represented here. Music pours from every storefront as you walk the downtown street.

This is part of the menu from the Memphis location of Ground Zero, a popular blues club partially owned by Morgan Freeman....seems barbeque is a staple here!

These conventions are always good sources for cutting edge decorative finishes. Faux Effects booth featured a new twist on animal skin showing it in a high gloss mimicking patent leather! They also featured an asian influenced stencil technique done with layers of texture.

Stencils are much more complicated with intricate designs influenced by delft tiles, moroccan floors and moorish fretwork.

If you are needing a green product, JaDecor is the answer. Teaming up with the Cotton industry, they offer a wall finish that is "acoustic, thermal,repairable, durable, and Green". This is the perfect finish for a home theatre , art gallery, or a noisy environment such as a school.

Looking for sophistication? Sherry Haydel, Ltd has it covered. She is based in New Orleans and features a line of fabrics, hand painted furniture and fortuny inspired stenciled walls.

This is a detail of some of her artisan furniture finishes.

The convention ended with a banquet wrapping up a creative week. Helen's skirt summed up the week featuring an iconographic stencil of Elvis along with the IDAL logo.

All things must end, and the 2009 IDAL convention is now being filed in many tired brains as we travel home to practice newly learned techniques. Exposure to new things makes us see the familiar in a different light. Go out and look at your world with new eyes today!